Movie Studios: Boston is the new Hollywood.

I'm far more worried that one or two *will* be built and will be vacant after 2 years.
 
If it gets built, and built well, they will come.
Every movie studio, even those in L.A., are vacant from time to time.
All part of the business.
 
The "built well" part is what I'm worried about. Your "they will come" result is highly contingent on the "built well" clause.

I'm sure any studio built around the Boston area will be occupied. Even by a great production company. The long term future of that site? I'm not so sure. So built it right the first time, with plenty of room for expansion (see also: Land, Disney)
 
Studio route is paved with a little strife
By Christine Legere
Globe Correspondent / August 31, 2008

Plymouth Rock Studios is now a slim eight weeks from a Town Meeting vote that will make or break its plan for a $422 million movie studio complex on a golf course in Plymouth.

But opinion remains split over the Hollywood executives' proposal to push through a zoning change for the 240-acre Waverly Oaks target site that would dispense with the need to secure a special permit during project review.

Proponents argue that a special permit is unnecessary, as various safeguards are being built into the zoning bylaw for the so-called movie and entertainment production overlay district.

For example, the draft contains a building height limitation of 65 feet in the district, with the exception of one sound stage that can reach no higher than 75 feet. The height of the 300-room hotel and all buildings in the education center is capped at 45 feet. Square footage for each of the project's components is spelled out.

Also, gas stations, drive-in theaters, casinos, helipads and heliports, adult entertainment venues, and amusement or theme parks are not allowed in the district.
Click to expand...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/08/31/studio_route_is_paved_with_a_little_strife/
 
If this and other planned film-making facilities are to become a reality in Massachusetts, the legislature had better get going. Last week a new facility opened in Columbia, South Carolina, and one large corporation is planning to build three facilities in Michigan which will contain eight sound stages. If we want to attract this industry to our area, we cannot afford to procrastinate.
 
Sounds as if it's too late. Let's let them have the movies, then. Shucks. Oh well. End of story.
 
Town Meeting faces crucial votes on studio proposal
Many say film industry a good bet in recession

By Christine Legere
Globe Correspondent / October 23, 2008

The economy may be in a recession, but executives of Plymouth Rock Studios say the climate couldn't be better for their proposal to build a $400 million film production studio in America's Hometown.

For one thing, residents appear to be banking on the studio to help keep the area - and their personal budgets - financially afloat. Those hopes were on display in the throngs of job seekers who have lined up the past few weeks to hear the studio's pitches about working in the movies.

For another, the film industry is "recession-proof," said Plymouth Rock cofounder David Kirkpatrick. When other ventures founder, the film business thrives, because it offers an affordable distraction in tough times, he argues, and that will help the studio secure financing even when money is tight.

Town Meeting representative William Abbott, although not opposed to the project, said he still has come concerns about "recession-proof" claims.

Next Monday, 126 Town Meeting representatives will consider two proposals that are critical to the film studio's future. One would establish a movie and entertainment production overlay district for the 240-acre target site.

The other would offer the project breaks on local property and state income taxes under the state's Tax Increment Financing Program, known as TIF.

If the project is approved, the studio facility would start construction next spring and be up and running by late 2010. Construction would provide union jobs in the various trades. Once built, the operation would require more than 3,000 full-time workers, based on Plymouth Rock's figures, as well as those included in an independent study of the proposal.

When Town Meeting members cast their votes, they will no doubt feel the weight of the grim economic times, coupled with pressure from Plymouth residents who overwhelmingly endorsed the studio project in a nonbinding vote last spring.

"Eighty-eight percent of the voters want this," said Pine Hills resident Peter Magner.

Magner is one of the many job seekers - from teens to seniors - who have stood in long lines to attend Plymouth Rock Studios' two "Jobs on the Lot" workshops. About 1,000 people showed up for the first one in late September, but the room at Plymouth High School could handle only 400. The unlucky ones that night received vouchers to attend the next workshop. That session was held last week, drawing about 1,200 people to Memorial Hall.

Plymouth Rock executives fired up the crowd that night with the promise that there would be something for just about everyone on their list of available positions, which call for all types of skills - such as actors, writers, directors, and technicians to carpenters, drivers, tour guides, and hair stylists.

Amy Chapman, owner of the Aristocracy Salon and Day Spa in Plymouth's downtown, said she is trying to connect with studio executives "to see how we can get some involvement "I'm very excited about this," she said.

According to Kirkpatrick, there's ample historical evidence that the film industry is recession-proof. Citing statistics from the Motion Picture Association of America, he said box office receipts rose by 22 percent during the Depression, and ticket sales again soared during the oil crisis of the 1970s and the energy crisis of the 1980s.

An economic and fiscal impact study of the Plymouth Rock project, completed for the town by the Community Opportunities Group Inc. and Jeffrey Donohue Associates, projects that the studio complex would generate 3,160 full-time jobs.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ar...eting_faces_crucial_votes_on_studio_proposal/
 
Anyone else think there could be a surprising amount of new reality-shows based in Boston now? How about a "Hills"-type show based in Duxbury or Weston? Any takers?
 
I'm thinking more along the lines of the uber-degrading "Next" or "Parental Control." Just a thought... I know plenty of people who would sign right up.
 
Hundreds cheer yes votes for Plymouth film studio
By Christine Legere
Globe Correspondent / October 28, 2008

PLYMOUTH - Town Meeting easily passed two articles last night that will allow Plymouth Rock Studios to move forward with the construction of a $400 million film studio on a 240-acre golf course, after months of negotiation between local officials and studio executives.

The votes were enough to bring the hundreds of residents who came to watch the deliberations to their feet with raucous cheers and applause.

"I'm flabbergasted," said Plymouth Rock Studios cofounder David Kirkpatrick. "I'm new to the experience of Town Meeting so I was surprised there wasn't a lot of debate. We were all out there giving each other high-fives." Kirkpatrick pledged the studio campus will have the feel of a "New England village in the 21st century rather than Hollywood."

The first article created the zoning necessary for the film operation, and made the studio an "as-of-right use," which means no special permits are required. That concession will greatly reduce the chance of appeals being filed that could slow construction at the site on the Waverly Oaks golf course.

The zoning change, which required a two-thirds majority approval, easily passed on a roll call vote with 100 Town Meeting representatives in favor and 14 opposed.

The second article afforded the studio a series of exemptions from local real estate taxes over the next 20 years.

The Tax Increment Financing package passed quickly on a voice vote with no debate. The package will give the studio a 75 percent tax break on its real estate taxes for the first five years. That exemption will gradually decrease to 10 percent by the 20th year of the deal.

"We knew it was going to be a good night for us because everyone on both sides had worked so hard," said Plymouth Rock executive Thom Black. He and Kirkpatrick promised news of "some very big plans" by mid-November.

Studio officials, who will now prepare a formal site plan for Planning Board review, hope to begin construction by the spring.

A study done for the town by a consulting firm estimates the film operation will generate 3,160 full-time jobs and an annual payroll of $168.6 million. The studio is also expected to bolster tourism for the town.

"This isn't just a great thing for the town. It will be major, from an economic perspective, for the whole region," said Pasquale Ciamarella, executive director of the Old Colony Planning Council.

Loring Tripp, a former chairman of the Planning Board and a supporter of Plymouth Rock Studios, said, "I think the Town Meeting representatives realized the momentum was there, that the public wanted this."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...eds_cheer_yes_votes_for_plymouth_film_studio/
 
And, in future news, maybe circa 2011?

"What was supposed to be a business generating over 3,000 jobs and more than $150 million has closed, a result of a slowing economy, intense competition from other states offering subsidies, and a workforce that, one critic says, wanted 'top dollar' but offered 'little results' for their work."
 
Historic Plymouth OKs building $488M movie studio

By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press Writer | November 23, 2008

PLYMOUTH, Mass. --In this place sometimes known as America's hometown, schoolchildren and tourists flock to see Plymouth Rock, a replica of the Mayflower and the place where the Pilgrims and Mashpee Wampanoags Indians shared the first Thanksgiving meal.

But the staid and historic image of Plymouth could soon be tempered by a decidedly modern attraction: a $488 million film and television studio, complete with 14 sound stages, a 10-acre back lot, a theater, a 300-room upscale hotel, a spa and 500,000 square feet of office space.

The thought of turning Plymouth into a movie Mecca has won the enthusiastic support of many residents, but some don't like the idea of adding Hollywood to their history.

"We don't need you; we've already got Plymouth Rock," says Laurien Enos, one of just three of 116 Town Meeting members who voted last month against allowing the developers to build the studio on a golf course here, about 40 miles south of Boston.

While Enos and others worry about traffic and Hollywood glamour changing their town, most residents have embraced the studio.

More than 1,100 people showed up at a recent jobs fair hosted by the project's developers.

"I think it's a great idea," said Renee Stoddard, a waitress at The All-American Diner. "It's going to bring lots of jobs and more people into Plymouth, and more business for us. It couldn't be a better time for that. We get plumbers and carpenters in here all the time and they're saying there's no work."

Even though construction isn't expected to begin until at least April once the final approvals are set -- and the studio won't be ready before late 2010 or early 2011 -- developers Plymouth Rock Studios LLC have pre-leased about 60 percent of the office space they'll need.

Led by David Kirkpatrick, a former president of Paramount Pictures, with Earl Lestz, another former Paramount executive, Plymouth Rock Studios doesn't yet have financing. And that could prove a major obstacle given the current economy.

But Joseph DiLorenzo, chief financial officer of Plymouth Rock Studios and former CFO of the NBA's Boston Celtics, is confident lenders will come through. He notes that the film industry -- though faltering now -- has weathered recessions before and that the project offers sound stages where filmmakers can do everything related to production, including editing and scoring.

"Now that we know we can build on it, we'll go raise money," said DiLorenzo. "We've had letters from HBO, Warner, Paramount and Fox, saying, 'If you build it, we will come.'"

Big-name producers and directors will come to Massachusetts because it offers filmmakers a sales tax exemption and a 25 percent tax credit for payroll and production expenses, DiLorenzo said.

For its part, in addition to a zoning change, Plymouth's Town Meeting gave the developers a 75 percent break on the studio's real estate taxes for the first five years. The exemption will gradually decrease over 20 years.

"We want to become the alternative to Hollywood for the film industry," said DiLorenzo.

That may be a tall order, given the competition Massachusetts faces from other states that also offer financial incentives, including neighboring Connecticut, which offers a tax credit of up to 30 percent for in-state production expenses, and Rhode Island, which gives a 25 percent tax credit on production costs for movies, videos or TV shows produced primarily in the state.

New York, which is widely seen as Hollywood's closest competitor, offers a 35 percent tax credit. And Michigan, also considered an attractive state for filmmakers, has begun refunding studios up to 42 percent of their in-state production expenses.

Nicholas Paleologos, executive director of the Massachusetts Film Office, calls the Plymouth proposal "enormously ambitious" but says Plymouth could be a big draw. The number of tourists visiting Plymouth has dropped in recent years from about 1 million a year to about 750,000.

"Plymouth is already a tourist attraction, and now, if you've got a place where people can visit the sets and take a tour of the back lots, it just enhances the tourist industry that's already there," Paleologos said.

Plymouth also is just 20 miles from picturesque Cape Cod, where ferries take visitors to the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, popular vacation spots for celebrities.

Since the first version of the incentive law went into effect in 2006, the state has seen a dramatic jump in the number of movies made here and the amount of money spent in the state by those productions.

The film industry spent about $6 million in Massachusetts in 2005 and $60 million in 2006. Direct spending more than doubled to $125 million in 2007, on eight major films, including: "The Women," starring Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan, and "Pink Panther 2," starring Steve Martin. Direct spending is expected to double again this year to $350 million to $400 million on 10 films, Paleologos said.

DiLorenzo said the developers expect the project to create about 1,000 construction jobs and another 2,000 permanent jobs at the studio, which is to be built on the Waverly Oaks Golf Course in a rural residential neighborhood in South Plymouth. The group secured the rights to the name "Hollywood East" from the Hollywood, Calif., Chamber of Commerce.

Even people who work at the historic sites in Plymouth like the thought of a movie studio in town.

Ann Young, the director of visitor services at Pilgrim Hall Museum, which houses the largest collection of Pilgrim artifacts in the world, said she isn't worried the glitz of a movie studio could taint Plymouth.

"We're all thrilled about it," Young said. "I think that (the developers) are trying to do something new. They are like pilgrims coming to Plymouth to start something new."

But some think the town has rushed, blinded by the thought of movie stars walking down the street.

Ann Marie Flanagan, a Town Meeting member who voted against the proposal, said the developers have not answered key questions, such as how they are going to finance the project and how much they hope the town will contribute in infrastructure improvements.

"People are just mesmerized," Flanagan said. "They're dropping names like Julia Roberts, and saying you're all going to have jobs."

DiLorenzo said the development group couldn't seek funding until Town Meeting approved the zoning change. The project also needs to get a state environmental permit and state approval for an access road.

The developers have pledged to provide buses to take tourists from the historic sites in Plymouth to the studio.

"We think people will come here for the tax credits and for the location," DiLorenzo said. "You have the ocean, the hills, foliage, the city -- it's all here."

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/art...g_488m_movie_studio/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1
 
LOL at The Simpsons embed....

This is about as risky as you can get....which is shocking for Massachusetts

Makes me think of Auto World in Flint Michigan....

Though Plymouth is admittedly nicer...

But honestly if I am a bank there is no way I am anxious to assume even a quasi-substantial chunk of the risk in financing this scheme. Maybe they will have to take on private investors? Maybe this will never even see the light of day?

I remember when people were calling Vancouver the 'New Hollywood' back in the late 90s
It's a fickle biz.
 
Group signs pact for first commercial project at Weymouth air base movie studio
By Jack Encarnacao
The Patriot Ledger
WEYMOUTH ?
The parties looking to build movie and television production studios on the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station have signed a deal they say clears the way for construction to begin in August.
The deal between developer LNR Property Corp. and Los Angeles-based International Studio Group (ISG) is the first to be signed for commercial development on the base, which LNR is redeveloping into a sprawling mixed-use complex called SouthField. Long-term plans call for development through 2017.
?Things will happen very quickly,? said Robert Papazian, one of ISG?s principals and a Belmont native, who has produced several television shows, including ?Nash Bridges? and ?Rome.?
The $100 million project, called SouthField Studios, will include 11 sound stages, production offices and more than 125,000 square feet of retail and office space.
Individuals involved in ISG, a privately held company, have successfully opened, restored and operated movie studios in California.
Design and architectural plans still need to be developed and approved before work on the project begins.
The project?s scope was scaled down from what was originally talked about ? a $300 million project with up to 15 sound stages.
That version of the project was predicated on the state passing new new tax breaks for major projects. SouthField Studios stood to secure about $60 million in tax credits under that proposal, but it failed to win legislative approval this year despite concerted lobbying.
The idea behind the project is that the new studios will offer post-production facilities for film crews that have been lured to Boston by tax incentives. Many film projects have come to Massachusetts for location shooting, but leave the state after shooting to complete the projects in Los Angeles and New York.
A separate group is planning a film studio in Plymouth.

http://www.patriotledger.com/homepa...l-in-place-for-Weymouth-air-base-movie-studio
 
Since there hasn't been an update on this in a while:

PLYMOUTH - Until now, Plymouth Rock Studios has been little more than a vague vision of a "Hollywood East" being promoted by a team of California film executives interested in building a mega production campus in America's Hometown. But details of the $422 million facility, which skeptics doubted would survive the economic downturn, are becoming more concrete.

"Funding for the project was tougher than we thought it would be," Plymouth Rock Studios executive Earl Lestz said yesterday during a presentation at the studio site for a Globe editorial panel. "But we think we'll make our schedule."

Rock officials say they are holding the 240-acre Waverly Oaks golf course site with a "seven-figure deposit," and they expect to close on the land deal in July. The initial plan was to pass papers on the property at the end of 2008.

The target date for opening remains some time in 2010.

Although it is too early to book for movie production, company officials say they are rapidly filling the campus's million square feet of building space.

"We already have the amenity village 80 percent booked, and we've got a couple spectacular restaurants," said Plymouth Rock executive Bill Wynne. The village will feature commercial operations and services, including pharmacies, cleaners, restaurants, hair stylists, a hotel, and more.

Other areas on the film campus are at least 60 percent booked, Wynne said.

Among the future tenants is the MIT Center for Future Storytelling, a graduate program focusing on moviemaking in an increasingly digitized world that will offer a satellite location at the Rock.

And the New England Institute of Art also will open a satellite campus there, Susan Lane, the institute's president, said yesterday at the meeting.

The initial construction phase, set to begin this May or early June, will focus on infrastructure, including an $8 million access road from Route 3 to the studio. Plymouth Rock is awaiting a response from the state to its application for $50 million in state funding to help with those costs.

The company expects to spend $200 million on labor during the construction phase, using union workers. At build-out, the studio predicts it will offer 2,500 jobs on-site and generate another 1,500 in the area, in services related to the studio.

Plymouth Rock has won financial support from C Change Investments LLC, a venture-capital firm based in Cambridge that invests in environmentally friendly and energy-efficient projects.

The studio is expected to be certified by the US Green Building Council for its dedication to reduced use of energy and water and reduction of harmful emissions, Plymouth Rock officials said.

"It will probably, for the first time, define the meaning of sustainability," C Change official John Picard said.
Click to expand...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/25/plymouth_movie_studio_on_track_executives_say/
 
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